DING YI

The 16 works of paper that will be exhibited at Timothy Taylor complement a recently defined new body of work: the series is characterised by an intuitive development in the artist’s practice: the creation of a sensitive and reactive relationship between woodcut and painting. The works on paper mimic Ding Yi’s large-scale paintings, with the medium–acrylic and colour pencils–being the differentiating visual factor. Ding Yi created these pieces after a full day of work: he would arrive home, have dinner, and work on the small pieces before going to sleep. The works on paper were first exhibited in the foyer of the Chase Manhattan Plaza.

Born, raised and educated in Shanghai, Ding Yi continually draws inspiration from the city’s physical and philosophical framework. His works are defined both by a language of ‘x’s and ’+‘s as well as by their grid structure, initially reflective of the fluid architectural milieu of late 1980s Shanghai. Ding Yi’s tenacious practice operates within a completely self-contained system that avoids social metaphors, while simultaneously observing urbanisation and the vast and rapid transformations of contemporary Chinese society.

The first Appearance of Crosses painting was created in 1988 and Ding Yi was considered a part of the important nationwide avant-garde movement of the time, 85 New Wave, as coined by curator and critic Gao Minglu. This was the first contemporary Art Movement that broke away from traditional Chinese aesthetics and represented progressive thought, and the historic importance of this specific moment in China would inevitably influence Ding Yi’s work for decades to come.

Ding Yi’s international recognition continues to grow, with recent solo exhibitions at Timothy Taylor, London, Museo d’Arte Moderna de Bologna, Italy, and recently, his inclusion in the 2016 edition of Art Basel Unlimited. Notable recent solo exhibitions in China have taken place at Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, Long Museum, Shanghai, Changsha City Museum, Changsha, and Minsheng Museum of Art, Shanghai.